Players get fewer opportunities to interview with NFL teams.
Because the combine drills are going to be broadcast in prime time for the first time in 2020, the schedules for prospects has changed, and it’s also changed for the teams. In years before, teams were able to line up interviews with up to 60 prospects in Indianapolis; now, that number has been reduced to 45.
“That’s frustrating for me,” Bills general manager Brandon Beane said. “There’s always some good in change and some bad. But probably the thing I was most disappointed in was going from 60 to 45 interviews. So, I’ve got to figure out how we can make up for losing these 15 guys. We’ll still get out. I may find myself out on the road even more in March to try to get my hands on as many guys as I can because I really want to get to meet as many as I can before I would turn the card in and say this guy is going to be a Buffalo Bill.”
And while the Bills, and all other NFL teams, will still be able to host the same 30 prospects at their facilities, Beane said that this process will also be different by default.
“It changes the names because maybe now I’ve got to bring in a guy who I wouldn’t have needed to if I get him here. I could have checked that box. I hope in the future, and I’ve expressed – and i think some other general managers have as well – that 45 is not enough. We’ve got to try to work that number closer to 60. I don’t know if well get it all the way back to 60, but that’s probably the hardest thing with the changes for me.”
Beane can’t be the only GM unhappy with this change.